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Flashback: Delphine confronts Shelby
In this flashback episode, the Harper's housekeeper, Delphine Ridgeway confronts the rude and crude Shelby Whitehead Harper. She also gets confronted by her mother in law, Violet! Scene The Harper Mansion, many years ago. The family had just attended Michael and Shelby's wedding. The family dressed in black, since they hated her. At this point in time, Dylan and Sheila are two years old, and Shelby's love for Dylan was as fake as she is. Michael is downcast and he is disgusted, while Shelby, who doesn't care about how Michael feels, is truly happy. MICHAEL: I cannot believe I went through with this! Why in the HELL did I even marry you?! SHELBY (giddy): Oh please, stop being in such a glum mood! I am happy! MICHAEL (sarcastically): Well, you'd be the only one! Nobody in my family likes you! And I sure as hell do not love you! SHELBY (flirtatiously): Now, Mike, you will learn to love me, for sure! MICHAEL (angrily): Quit it with the charm, lady! It didn't work then, and it sure as hell doesn't work now. I don't care if you wear that ring! I was a fool to do this, and I don't think so. I will not ever learn to love you! If I had my way, I would be married to Angela, and you damn well know it! There will be NO honeymoon period, Shelby, and the sooner you accept that, the better off we'll all be! But right now, I have a son to raise. SHELBY: You are going to moan about taking care of your sister's son! MICHAEL (coldly): Listen, Shelby, I am not happy with marrying you as it is, but you manipulated things to do so. I am married to you, but I do not have to like it. SHELBY: Oh, don't be stupid, Mike. You are not only going to love it, you will absolutely adore it! You married me because you love me! MICHAEL: No, you forced me to love you. SHELBY (smugly): Well, whatever! I married you, and Angela Mercier is a distant memory, as it should be! MICHAEL: At least Angela loved me, and I loved her. Ours was an equal love! SHELBY: I don't care! I am not going to tolerate it! Not now, not EVER! MICHAEL: If that means I have to tolerate your ranting and raving, then I don't have to tolerate that from you either! Now, IF you do not mind, I am going to get ready for dinner! I'd advise you to do the same thing! SHELBY: I don't give a damn! And you keep that brat away from my room! MICHAEL (stunned): What in the WORLD are you babbling about, Shelby?! SHELBY: You heard me! You keep that brat away from MY bedroom! It is my room! My privacy! And I don't have to sleep with you! And you tell him to stay away from that room, AND from me! MICHAEL (acidly): First of all, lady, you do NOT own that bedroom! You are only here because you manipulated me into marriage! Second of all, you don't EVER speak a nasty word about Dylan, Shelby! If you EVER say something like that again, I will make sure you regret it! Besides, he is two years old and he and Sheila spend most of their time in the nursery. SHELBY: And I am warning you, Michael! I don't have to tolerate Aileen, I don't have to tolerate Sheila, and I will NOT tolerate Dylan coming into MY room! MICHAEL: Shut up, Shelby! Your arrogance makes me want to vomit! And I am warning YOU, the next time you warn me about ANYTHING, I swear to God, I will see you destroyed! You do not EVER warn a Harper! SHELBY: Oh, get out of here! I want to be alone! MICHAEL: Gladly! (muttering to himself) If I had my way, I would love to send that bitch to Siberia! One way trip! (Michael storms out. Mrs. Ridgeway, the housekeeper, sees Michael's angry face.) DELPHINE: What happened, sir? MICHAEL: Oh, that wife of mine! I swear! She's going to drive me to drink. DELPHINE: What did she say to you, dear? MICHAEL: She told me to keep Dylan out of her room. DELPHINE: Is she crazy? She knows Dylan and Sheila stay in the nursery and they eat and sleep and play in there. She knows that as well as I do. MICHAEL: I know she does, and she is just being a damned arrogant sow! DELPHINE: That she is. The staff despises her! We cannot get into that room to clean. She won't even allow the STAFF inside to clean. MICHAEL: I can't stand her. She manipulated me into marriage. DELPHINE: I know, my dear. Your parents told me. The only one who was happy about it, was her. MICHAEL: Now I am married to that shrew! DELPHINE: I will have a word with her, if you'd like. MICHAEL: Mom tried to talk to her; so did Dad. She won't listen. She and Michelle despise one another. DELPHINE: Don't worry, my dear. I will speak with her. MICHAEL: Thank you, Mrs. Ridgeway. DELPHINE (in a motherly tone): I have known you since you were a child, and I am not going to let her hurt my boy. (As Shelby walks down the hall, smugly, Mrs. Ridgeway grabs her, and hauls her into one of the vacant guest rooms.) SHELBY: Get your hands off of me, you miserable peasant! DELPHINE: Not until you hear some hard truths, young lady! SHELBY: What the hell do you have to say to me?! DELPHINE: I have been working for this family since Michael and Michelle were children! I've watched them grow up, and I think of Michael as kind of like my own child. I have worked my way up from a grubby housemaid to now being the head housekeeper. I did it with HARD work, and dedication, something you know NOTHING about! That means I have quite a bit of say around here, Madame! I may be only a servant and you may be the wife of a man of this house, but you are not all that. This isn't Hull you are living in, missy, where you think you can dictate things, far from it! This is Harpers Falls, and in Harpers Falls, it is the HARPERS that rule the roost here, and not you. I would suggest that you fix that in your brain for eternity! You may have married into this family, but you are merely an OUTSIDER! And believe me, Michelle isn't the only one who is going to be keeping an eye on you! I am going to be as well. I may have to bow and scrape to you, but that doesn't mean I have to like you OR tolerate your badmouthing this noble family! And if I hear you even TRY to threaten the young master, I will make sure you SUFFER! SHELBY (snidely): I should tell Mother and Father about what you said to me! They will can you without a reference! And I will see to it that happens! DELPHINE: Don't be so smug! You know everyone wore black, don't you?! SHELBY: It was a wedding, not a funeral! I wore white! DELPHINE: You should have worn Red, you scarlet woman! SHELBY: I am not going to take this! I am out of here. Good bye! DELPHINE: If I had my way, you'd not be here and not married to Michael. SHELBY: Well, I AM married to him, and there isn't a damn thing you lot can do about it! (Shelby sweeps out of the room smugly. Mrs. Ridgeway is about ready to throw something.) DELPHINE (yelling down the hall to a laughing Shelby): Maybe not, bitch! You will do it yourself, one of these days! SHELBY (screaming): Oh go fan your feather duster, you stupid servant! (Enter Violet, the lady of the house. She hears Delphine screaming at the smug Shelby.) VIOLET: Mrs. Ridgeway, is everything all right? DELPHINE: No. VIOLET: I can tell. Shelby is what is bothering you, isn't it? DELPHINE: I don't trust that woman. I hate her! VIOLET: I don't blame you there. Nobody trusts her, and nobody certainly likes her. And I heard her threatening your position here. Don't you worry about that one, ever. You don't have to worry about your position, your position is safe here. DELPHINE: Thank you, Ma'am. VIOLET: And you don't worry about Shelby. We'll keep an eye on her. Michelle doesn't trust her either, and I know Dylan doesn't trust her. He's not stupid, he knows when his mama is not happy. DELPHINE: He's very perceptive for a two year old. VIOLET: That he is, Mrs. Ridgeway. (Enter Amelia, Dylan's nanny. He is holding Amelia's hand.) DELPHINE: Well, look at this! Hi there, my love! Don't you look handsome? VIOLET: Of course he does. He's Grandma's boy. Aren't you, my darling? (Dylan giggles as he is put in his grandma's arms.) DELPHINE: So handsome. VIOLET: And he is loved. Shelby won't hurt him. I'll see to that one! DELPHINE: Has he had his dinner, Amelia? AMELIA: Yes, ma'am. He and Sheila ate their dinner. (Dylan yawns, he is about to fall asleep) DELPHINE: Looks like he is about to fall asleep. AMELIA: He and Sheila played hard today. VIOLET: Amelia, be a dear and put him down for bed, ok? AMELIA: Yes, Ma'am. (She takes the child and gets him to his room.) DELPHINE: I hate that Shelby. VIOLET: So do I, I would rather Michael have married Angela. She ADORES Dylan, and Shelby doesn't care a thing for the child. Whenever she is around Dylan, he starts to cry. Sheila starts crying when Dylan cries. DELPHINE: That is twins. VIOLET: I know. Michael and Michelle were the same way. So were Jason and Aaron. I am going to watch that harridan. And I will make sure she will keep herself to herself! (After dinner, Violet pulls Shelby aside and drags her into the Drawing room.) SHELBY: Not you too! VIOLET (angrily): Yes, me too, young lady! And you are going to hear me! I am going to say this only once! (She gives her daughter in-law a venomous glare) If you even DARE to hurt my grandchildren, in ANY manner, I will make sure you will pay and pay DEARLY for it! SHELBY: Oh, whatever, you old bag! I am not going to go anywhere NEAR that little pipsqueak! You just keep those brats out of MY room! VIOLET: You keep a civil tongue in your head! And you remember this, my dear, and fix it into your mind for all eternity! YOU are only here because of my good will! SHELBY: And who are you to talk to me in that manner?! VIOLET (in a cold voice): The lady of the house! THAT is who I am! Remember my warnings! Mess with anyone in my family and you will see what happens when you cross a Harper! (Shelby flounces out of the room, once again it is evident that she doesn't care. Violet walks slowly out of the Drawing room. She walks over to Dylan's room. She peeks in and sees the little boy asleep next to his beloved teddy bear. Violet sneaks in and drops a kiss on her grandson's head. Then she leaves, a smile on her face. Amelia follows her out.) AMELIA: One of the other maids is watching him. Marie got Sheila into bed. How did it go with her? VIOLET: She didn't listen, but then again, I didn't expect her to. AMELIA: What are we going to do? VIOLET (determinedly): We wait, Amelia. Give her enough rope and she will hang herself. And trust me, she will slip up, my girl. She will mess up, and we will catch her in the act. And when she does, there will be one hell of a crash! One that will end up with her comeuppance, the biggest comeuppance in Harpers Falls' history! Mark my words, Shelby Whitehead, you may be married to my son, but that situation will be remedied. When I get through with you, you will have wished you never left Hull! (The scene fades.) Category:Episodes Category:Hall of Fame Episodes Category:Flashback episodes of Harper History Category:Episodes featuring Dylan and Sheila